In a virtual reality system, a user wears a head-mounted display that presents a selected virtual reality (VR) environment in front of the user's eyes. In some VR systems, a user can manipulate items in the virtual environment with handheld controllers. The controllers include tracking patterns comprised of a pattern of lights, for example. The system monitors the movement of the tracking patterns with a tracking camera and reproduces the user's hand movements in the virtual environment. However, input controls, such as buttons or thumbsticks traditionally used on game controllers are activated by pressing on or pivoting the input control relative to the controller's housing. Input controls do not typically detect the contact or the spatial presence of a user's fingers or thumb relative to control members.
The headings provided herein are for convenience only and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed embodiments. Further, the drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be expanded or reduced to help improve the understanding of the embodiments. Moreover, while the disclosed technology is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the embodiments described. On the contrary, the embodiments are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the embodiments as defined by the appended claims.